Pencil sharpener



April 11, 1951 G. PHLlBoT-rE 2,979,031

PENCIL SHARPENER Filed Oct. 8, 1959 Tame/$24 6A sro/v PHL /orrf @y@@fviw 2,979,031 11C@ patented Apr. 11, 1961 PENCIL SHARPENER GastonPhlibotte, 2218 Visitation St., Montreal, Quebec, Canada Filed ct. '8,1959, Ser. No. 845,168

1 Claim. (Cl. 1Z0-96) The present invention relates to a pencilSharpener of the type having a helicoidal cutter blade.

The main object of the present invention is the provision of a pencilSharpener in which there is a single cutter having a helicoidal vcutterblade and arranged to pull the pencil during cutting instead ofrepelling the same as in ordinary pencil Sharpeners.

A very important object of the present invention is the provision of apencil Sharpener of the character described in which the speed ofrotation of the cutter around its axis is a multiple of the speed of itscircular movement around the pencil, such that the pencil is sharpenedwithin a minimum of turns of the operating member.

Yet another important object of the present invention is the provisionof a pencil Sharpener of the character described which is of very simpleconstruction, having a minimum of component parts, and which isrelatively inexpensive to manufacture.

Still another important object of the present invention is the provisionof a Sharpener of the character described in which one part isduplicated and has two functions so that one can substitute the twoparts one for the other, when one part is worn out, as regards one ofits functions, while still useful in its alternate function.

The foregoing and other important objects of the present invention willbecome more apparent during the following disclosure and by referring tothe drawings in which:

Figure l is a broken sectional elevation of the Sharpener;

Figure 2 is a cross-section along line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section of part of the casing andV of thesharpening mechanism;

yFigure 4 is a top plan view of the sharpening mechanism; and

Figure 5 is a cross-section along line 5-5 of Figure 4.

The pencil Sharpener of the present invention comprises a casing 1having at spaced parallel side walls 2 and end walls 3, the latter beingextended by a curved top wall 4 which is provided with a carrying handle5. The bottom of the casing is closed by a cover plate 6tightlyhinserted in position and abutting against shoulders 7 formed bythe walls 2 and 3.

The side walls 2 are provided, at about mid-height, with opposedthreaded circular openings S which are axially aligned, have an equaldiameter and are adapted to receive caps 9 and 9 in threaded engagement.

Caps 9 and 9' are of identical construction Such that they may beinterchanged at either side of the casing 1. Each cap has threads 10receiving the threads of the opening 8 and a radial flange 11 abuttingagainst the external face of the side wall 2.

The bore of the cap has a stepped shape to form shoulders 12. The cap isfurther-more provided with gear teeth forming a crown gear 13, the teethof which are slightly diverging towards the inside of the casing 1.

A pencil bearing block generally indicated at 14 has a circular journalportion 15 journaled within the cap 11 which forms a bearing therefor.Journal portion 15 has a stepped section to conform to the steps 12 ofthe cap 9 and rotates within said cap. A knurled operating disk 16 isthreaded onto the end section 17 of reduced diameter of journal portion15 and serves to rotate the pencil bearing block 14 relative tothe cap 9and housing 1. The block 14 comprises furthermore a cradle 18 of troughlike section and integrally connected to journal portion 15 by'means oftwo lateral arms 19. Cradle 18 is extended by sleeve like end portion 20having stepped cylindrical outer surfaces journaled within the bore ofthe other cap 9', itself threaded within the opposite side wall 2 ofthecasing 1. The stepped surfaces of the caps 9 and 9 which serve asbearing member for the pencil bearing block 14 prevent axialdisplacement of said block and enable easy rotation thereof. Sleeve 20forms an axially extending bore 21 for the insertion of a pencil P Vtobe sharpened. The bore 21 has an outer cylindrical portion which isextended and opens within the groove formed by cradle 18; said groovehas an inclined surface portion 22 converging towards the extended axisof the cylindrical bore 21 in a direction away from said bore.

The inclined surface portion 22 terminates short of the journal portion15 so as to leave a slot in which is inserted a pinion 23 which ismounted for free rotation on an inclined shaft 24 and which meshes withthe gear teeth of the crown gear 13 of the cap 9. The shaft 24 consistsof a pin tightly fitted within the journal portion 15 and within anaxially aligned hole made in an ear 25 depending from the body portion14 adjacent the connecting arms V19 and disposed radially outwardly fromthe cradle 18. Y

The pinion 23 in turn meshes with a bevelled gear 26 which is integralwith or rigidly secured to a cutter 27 of generally cylindrical shapeand having spirally extending cutter blades 28.

The cutter 27 together with its bevelled gear 26 is mounted for freerotation on a shaft 29 which consists of a pin tightly tted within thejournal portion 1S and in a through bore of -an extension 30 integralwith pencil bearing block 14 adjacent sleeve 20. The stud shaft 29 isinclined with respect to the axis of the bore 21 for receiving thepencil P and is divergent with respect to the shaft 24 of the pinion 23.Thus, the cutter 27 has its cutting blades 28 converging with respect tothe abutment surface 22 to grind the pencil P inserted within bore 21 toa fine point.

The cradle portion 18 of the block 14 is shaped such as to providebetween the cutter 27 and its surfaces sufiicient clearance for thedischarge of the wood and lead shavings. Said shavings fall onto thebottom cover 6 of the, casing 1.

The pencil Sharpener is used as follows: The end to be ground of apencil P is inserted within bore 21 until it abuts against the cutter27. The operator disk 16 is then rotated in the usual direction and thepencil which is held against rotation is progressively ground and ispulled towards the disk 16, that is within the machine due to the sideon which cutting edges of the spiral threads blades 28 are disposed withrespect to the usual direction of rotation of the cutter. As the pencilis ground it slides along the inclined surface 22. Rotation of thebearing block 14 'causes peripheral rotation of the cutter 27 around thepencil so as to engage all the peripheral surface thereof while thecutter itself is rotated with respect to the block 14 about its studshaft 29 at an increased speed due to the provision of theinterposi-tion of the pinion 23. The speed ratio between pinion 23,bevelled gear 26 and crown gear 13 can be selected such as to increaseas desired the speed of rotation of the cutter 27 about its axis 29 withrespect to the number of turns of the body 3 14 around the pencil P.Thus, increase sharpening speed is obtained as compared to conventionalSharpeners in which the gear 26 is meshing directly with the crown gear'13.

The fact also that the pencil P is pulled inwardly by the cutter 27facilitates the holding of the pencil.

The Sharpener of the present invention in spite of the fact that it hasonly a single cutter and is thus less expensive to manufacture, has beenfound to sharpen pencil with greater eiciency than two-cutterSharpeners.

Obviously, the operator disk 16 can be'replaced by a crank handle andthe sharpening assembly can also be used inassociation with another typeof casing than the casing 1 shown, which latter is particularly designedas a portable Sharpener. More specifically, the sharpening mechanismincluding body 14 and associated parts could very Well be used inassociation with a bracket for mounting the mechanism to a wall and witha shaving receiving housing suspended from said body 14.

This is possible because the sleeve portion 20 of the block 14 need notbe journalled within cap 9 but can be free with respect to the latter,as the journal portion 15 ofthe block 14 provides sufficient bearingsurfaces for said block 14.

The entire assembly 14 can be removed from the casing 1 by simplyunscrewing cap 9 and pulling the assembly through opening 8, the latterhaving a sucient diameter for said passage. The casing 1 can be emptiedof pencil shavings through opening S.

When the gear teeth 13 of the cap 9 are worn out the latter is veryeasily replaced by cap 9' and cap 9 substitted in place of cap 9. Toaccomplish this purpose, the disk 16 is unscrewed from end section 1S ofblock 14.

While a preferred embodiment in accordancevwith the present inventionhas been illustrated and described, it is understood that variousmodifications may be resorted to without departing from the spirit andscope of the appended claim.

What I claim is:

A pencil Sharpener comprising a casing having threaded circular openingsof equal diameter in opposite side Walls thereof, interchangeableidentical cap elements in threaded engagement with and closing saidrespective openings, each cap element having a stepped central bore andinclined gear teeth forming a bevelled crown gear at the periphery ofsaid bore adjacent the inside face of the respective cap element, apencil bearing block disposed within said casing and having stepped endjournal portions respectively journalled in said cap elements, one ofsaid end journal portions having a pencil receiving bore madetherethrough, the portion of said block intermediate said end journalportions forming a cradle of trough like section having an inclinedbottom face extending from said bore and terminating short of the otherof said end journal portions to define a slot therewith, an earoutwardly projecting from said cradle adjacent said slot, a pinionextending in said slot, journaled in said ear and in said other of saidend journal portions and meshing with said crown gear, a cylindricalcutter rotatably mounted on said block and extending in said cradle forrotation about an axis inclined with respect to the axis of pencilreceiving bore and to the axis of said-pinion, a bevelled gear wheelfast with one end of said cutter and meshing with said pinion, andmanual means for rotating said block in said cap elements.

References Cited in the tile of this patent v UNITED STATES PATENTS

